


Their leader and His Sceptic

by BlackWingBecci



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Apart from Combeferre, Combeferre is scary, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Les Amis are really just a big ball of fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 08:23:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackWingBecci/pseuds/BlackWingBecci
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras has always had trouble with romance, so when he starts dating Grantaire, Les Amis want to make it clear to the newcomer that they are prepared to protect their leader.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Their leader and His Sceptic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OccamsPhaser (Ennex)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=OccamsPhaser+%28Ennex%29).



> Shout out to eirenical (here and tumblr) who helped me a lot get my ideas today together for this fic.

Combeferre didn’t notice it when it first started. All he knew of the situation was that Enjolras had come back from his first classical philosophy lecture raging about some guy that had argued with everything he had said. Combeferre had thought nothing of it, simply happy to see Enjolras back to his old passionate self after the last debacle of a relationship. As usual, when his relationship went sour, Enjolras fell into a rut. So all Combeferre could see was the improvement from that and hopes Enjolras could keep his temper in check enough not to be kicked out of another class, not what was the beginnings of so much more.

It kept happening after that. Every day Enjolras came back from a lecture or a seminar with a new story about ‘his sceptic’ – as Courfeyrac had dubbed him – and Combeferre’s worry for Enjolras faded to just hover carefully at the back of his mind. Instead, he focused on his own school work, pointedly ignoring Courfeyrac’s growing interest in Enjolras’ sceptic. He assumed Courf’s fascination with the situation was just another case of Enjolras’ awkwardness at dealing with individual people because he hadn’t been raised to be a social child. He didn’t even consider that Courfeyrac was seeing the deeper connection that he was completely missing.

It was only after they were five months into the year and the thing between Enjolras and his sceptic had simply become a part of their everyday life that Combeferre finally noticed. Enjolras was in the middle of after-lecture rant about the guy in his class – the rant taking the common theme of the man’s nihilism – when Combeferre recognised the signs. He recognised the certain spark in Enjolras’ blue eyes, he recognised the way that every insult in Enjolras’ rant against his sceptic was also accompanied by a subtle compliment, and he recognised the way Enjolras was slowly changing his arguments and actions in response to this guy’s comments in a way he only had with Combeferre and Courfeyrac before. His best friends had fallen for his sceptic.

Combeferre first reaction was worry. Enjolras did not have a good track record with relationships. With the mess of his parents’ relationship – the abuse and cruelty and hatred they threw at each other being all most people saw – and Enjolras’ difficulty with dealing with individual people, rather than the people as a whole, the blonde didn’t have many good examples of how healthy relationships worked. The only examples he had was Joly and Bossuet and Combeferre and Courfeyrac themselves. And even then Joly and Bossuet had already settled into a comfortable relationship by the time they joined the Amis and for Combeferre and Courfeyrac, there wasn’t much change from their close friendship to their relationship.

It all resulted in Enjolras having no idea how to approach a relationship. And thus they all failed. Sometimes the failure was Enjolras’ fault, because he got so caught up in his causes and the rest of his life that he forgot to be attentive to his partner, and then they get fed up and leave. And the rest of the time it’s his naivety that causes the issue. Enjolras had told Combeferre how he sees someone with similar views and ideals as him, and he feels like the way romance works means he should like that person, and in a way he does. But he sees them as too similar to himself and assume their as much an open book as the blonde himself is, but they aren’t. And underneath the ideals and passion, they’re absolute dicks. Usually Enjolras takes care of the dicks easily, but sometimes the Amis have had to intervene – like for Enjolras’ most recent relationship attempt – and Combeferre is not willing to let that happen again with his sceptic. Enjolras was their leader.

-x-

Courfeyrac has always taken his unofficial role as romance guide of the Amis very seriously, especially when concerning Enjolras. He didn’t understand his friend’s troubles with romance as well as his own boyfriend did, but he was more than willing to help him where he could. If Enjolras truly didn’t want a relationship, then Courf’ would be more than happy to step back rather than interfere where he was wanted, but Enjolras’ constant attempt at a relationship told him the blonde very much wanted one.

So when Enjolras came home at the beginning of his year with the story of the argumentative man, Courfeyrac’s interest was immediately piqued. He waited a few weeks, to see if it was just Enjolras’ fiery passion for his ideals that had drawn him to his sceptic, and when he realised it was in fact more, he was determined to help. He bided his time, waiting for the write moments to step in and help Enjolras with the guy that he was so enamoured with. And then, after a few months and even Combeferre had finally realised Enjolras’ feelings, he went to work.

It took him and Combeferre a good two weeks to open Enjolras’ eyes to the fact that he may actually have feelings for his sceptic. Enjolras had adamantly refused at first. He was sure he didn’t have feeling for the man because all they did was argue and they had nothing in common, but Courf’ and ‘Ferre eventually were able to make his see the truth. Of course, that was quickly followed by protestations that the other man surely doesn’t have any feelings for him, and Courfeyrac simultaneously wanted to smack him over the head for being an idiot and cuddle him for being so endearing. Combeferre almost agreed with Enjolras over his unsurety, but Courf’ quickly shut his boyfriend up and instead persuaded Enjolras to try anyway – sure that his sceptic had the same feelings.

The day when Enjolras came back from his classical philosophy lecture, not raging as usual but beaming from ear to ear and almost shaking with excitement, Courfeyrac knew his advice had once again proven good. And it only took a little coaxing from him and Combeferre to get Enjolras to tell them what had happened. The blonde told them how he had pulled the man to the side – Grantaire, they finally learnt his name was – and he had been bewildered when Enjolras confessed as Courf’ had told him to. The blonde had at first thought he was about to be rejected, but his sceptic had recovered and confessed himself, and agreed to go for coffee with Enjolras. Courfeyrac was ridiculously happy for their leader. But even he couldn’t help the twinge of worry since he really knew nothing about this Grantaire, apart from the fact that he disagreed and argued with Enjolras.

Needless to say, it didn’t take long for the issue to be brought to the rest of the Amis. They were more than just a group of friends or a society; they were a family. And that meant they were in each other’s business and comfortable there. The rest of them had been there to help pick up the pieces and scare of the dicks after Enjolras’ bad relationship decisions along with Courfeyrac and Combeferre, if a little less, and Courf’ knew they’d be just as worried as he and ‘Ferre were.

“Enjolras has new boyfriend.” He announced simply as soon as he entered their backroom of the Musain on the evening when Enjolras had his date. “We’re going to do what we can to help him not fuck this one up.” Courfeyrac tries to keep to light, and earns himself a few smiles, though they all get the truth in it as well.

“And we’re going to vet this sceptic.” Combeferre added. And everyone nodded enthusiastically.

-x-

Jehan was actually excited to meet Grantaire. He was worried like the rest of his friends, but maybe not as much so. He could feel the off atmosphere in their backroom as they all waited for Enjolras to arrive with his boyfriend, and couldn’t help but despair at his friends’ pessimism. He didn’t know why, but he had a good feeling about Grantaire. He had seen the way Enjolras talked about his sceptic and the way he had subtly changed since the man had ended up in his life, and Jehan thought it was a positive change. A change he hadn’t ever seen before in all of their leader’s previous failed relationships.

It didn’t take long for the door to finally open and Enjolras entered, followed closely by an obviously nervous man. Grantaire. He was rather short and stocky, with flat, dark curls, a bulging belly and a deep birthmark on his left cheek. However, Jehan didn’t really see all that. He saw the way Enjolras saw Grantaire’s physical features. Through the blonde’s blue eyes he could see strong arms that could probably hold Enjolras tight and an expressive face that Enjolras could read and learn from. But above all, Jehan saw happiness. And that was all that mattered really.

They didn’t have a proper meeting planned that night, so they split into smaller groups to chat as Enjolras introduced Grantaire around. And the second Enjolras left his boyfriend alone, Courfeyrac was signalling for Jehan to move in. He rolled his eyes, but did so anyway. He may not be as worried about Grantaire as the others, but Enjolras was still his friend, their leader. He might think Grantaire seems like a good guy, but good guys can be douches, and he was more than happy to make it clear what he was prepared to do if Enjolras was deliberately hurt.

“That’s really pretty.” He slid into the seat next to Grantaire as he complimented the sketch of the birds the dark-haired man was working on. Jehan received a small smile from Grantaire – who was obviously still nervous – and waited for him to finish before he began his carefully planned speech.

“Have you ever heard the tale of Leda and the Swan?” Jehan asks, as casually as he can though with a deliberateness that would hopefully make it clear what he was getting at. “You see, Zeus disguised himself as a swan so he could sleep with the mortal Leda. And then when she resisted, he raped her. The story shows us that even creatures we assume are sweet and friendly can be violent when they think it’s necessary.”

“A sudden blow: the great wings beating still.” Grantaire spoke when Jehan stopped for effect, and Jehan lost his train of thought completely at the familiar line. “Above the staggering girl her thighs caressed/By the dark webs, he nape caught in his bill,/He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.”

“That’s Leda and the Swan by Yeats.” Jehan was slightly in awe at Grantaire. The man had quoted Yeats at him, he had understood what Jehan had been trying to say without him having to explain himself anymore, and that was amazing.

“I’ve studied Classics for ages, and there’s something hauntingly beautiful about that poem that always makes it stick in my mind.” Grantaire explained simply, with a self-deprecating smile, before he looked back down at his sketch. “Here.” He said suddenly and pushed the small piece of paper towards Jehan.

Jehan actually felt his mouth drop as Grantaire just easily gave him the gorgeous sketch, and is too busy focusing on it to realise when the other man got up and walked away from the table. Once Jehan realised Grantaire had gone, he quickly spotted him stood beside Enjolras and looking at the blonde with so much affection that Jehan’s own heart swelled. Jehan doesn’t know if he got his point across with his ‘intimidation’, but he thought Grantaire seemed like a great guy. And he doesn’t think Grantaire would ever deliberately hurt their leader anyway.

-x-

Courfeyrac was despairing over their plan towards the end of the night. After Jehan, no one else had done any better at intimidating Grantaire, and instead the group was very easily falling in love with him.

Bahorel had attempted a more physical threatening by regaling Grantaire with tale about the fight she had been in. And instead had ended up swapping stories with Enjolras’ sceptic and arranging to meet up to box together the next week.

Joly had begun a conversation with him about strange, deadly viruses that he had been studying in his classes. However, the med student had got himself worked up and nearly had a panic attack, which Grantaire easily helped him deal with, citing his own experiences with anxiety.

Bossuet had wanted to try a similar method to his own boyfriend by sharing some of his craziest injuries, but it had only taken two minutes for him and Joly to start making jokes with Grantaire. The three fit together in a crazy way with their similar, wacky sense of humours.

Feuilly had sat down beside Grantaire and carried on with one of his wood carvings, making deliberate strokes of the knife so it shone in the light and drew the other man’s attention. However, all Grantaire did was complement Feuilly’s skill, and the two were soon swapping carving, sculpting and painting techniques and promising to show each other their work.

Courfeyrac could only shake his head at his friends as they in turn failed, and decided he’d have to step his own intimidation up a notch. He dragged up a chair and sat down beside Grantaire while Enjolras was getting another cup of coffee.

“Hey.” He said simply and Grantaire smiled at him. Courfeyrac had noticed the man’s smile had been growing more open throughout the night and he bonded with the Amis, and he couldn’t help but think he looked better with the open smile than the nervous one he had worn at the beginning of the night. “I’m just going to lay it down for you. I know people. I know a lot of people. You see that’s my thing; people. I have all the contacts for the group, so I know a lot of people who can do certain things. I know someone’s whose pretty heavily involved in the illegal weapons trade, and I know someone who works for police, and I even know the leader of Patron Minette.”

“You know Montparnasse?” Grantaire asked suddenly, a spark of recognition jolting through the confusion that had been clouding his eyes.

“You know Montparnasse?” Courfeyrac parroted back at him.

“Yeah, we go to the same addiction support group.” Grantaire spoke as casually as though he was discussing the weather, though Courfeyrac was able to see the falter in his expression at the words. This was a sensitive issue for him. “I’m a recovering alcoholic.”

“Oh.” Courfeyrac really doesn’t know what to say. Enjolras hadn’t told them. Well, of course Enjolras hadn’t told them, the blonde was way too good of a person to divulge someone’s personal business like that. “That’s really impressive.” And it was. Courfeyrac knew how much strength it takes to beat an addiction, he’d seen it first-hand all the times he’s volunteered at similar support groups to the one Grantaire was talking about.

“It’s not really, I shouldn’t have got addicted in the first place.” Grantaire mumbled and his hands fidgeted over the table top. Definitely a sensitive topic. “I am done though.” He said suddenly, his eyes boring into Courf’s. “Enjolras said he’d stay with me even if I did relapse, but I don’t want to. He doesn’t deserve that.”

Courfeyrac felt very guilty for his intimidation attempt. What were they thinking? They should have just gotten to know Grantaire. It was easy to see from a mile off that he was a fantastic person and that he definitely did not want to hurt Enjolras. They had simply let their protectiveness over their leader get the better of them, and they well could have scared off a great guy. Thank God Grantaire seemed to be made of stronger stuff than most.

-x-

Combeferre waited until the walk home to speak with Grantaire properly. He had refused to take part in Courfeyrac’s intimidation plan, instead preferring to just talk to Grantaire to make sure he wasn’t going to hurt his best friend, and was glad that over the course of the nigh the rest of the Amis had started thinking the same. He and Grantaire chatted about school and politics and philosophy as they walked back form the Musain to his, Enjolras and Courfeyrac’s apartment. He found Enjolras’ sceptic easy to talk to and very intelligent, and could easily look past his jadedness and nihilism because they didn’t affect his character much. 

However, when Courfeyrac managed to steal Enjolras’ phone and went tearing up the street with it, prompting the blonde to chase him to try get it back, Combeferre made use of being alone with Grantaire.

“Enjolras is my best friend.” Grantaire’s smile dropped from his face and he looked at Combeferre expectantly. Of course he had been expecting it. The other Amis had all given their own attempts at a warning, so he was probably wondering why Combeferre had waited till last. “He hasn’t had the best romantic history so I do worry a lot when he’s in a relationship. I’m not expecting you to be some saint or perfect boyfriend who doesn’t make mistakes but,” Combeferre stopped walking, took his glasses off and made sure he was looking Grantaire directly in the eyes. “If you do deliberately hurt him, I will make your live a living hell.”

Combeferre watched Grantaire physically gulp and a shiver pass down the other man’s body before he nodded. Nodding once in return to mark the end of the discussion, Combeferre put his glasses back on and carried on walking down the street and towards Courfeyrac and Enjolras’ yells. And if anyone asked later, he would deny any joy he felt at Grantaire purposefully walking a step behind him and eyeing him cautiously for the rest of the walk.

-x-

Later on that night, Grantaire was laid on his back in Enjolras’ bed – and he was not focusing on how it was his first time in his boyfriend’s personal space – and thinking of the Amis. They had been an interesting bunch. He was surprised by how all of them had actually taken a liking to him. If he was honest, he hadn’t expected any of them to like him. And he didn’t even know how to begin to deal with the subtle approval he had gotten from Enjolras’ best friend. It made their relationship suddenly much more serious. (And Grantaire kind of liked it).

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Enjolras asked from where his head was pushed against Grantaire’s chest, his breath passing pleasantly over the dark-haired man’s skin.  
“Your friends.” Enjolras hummed in response and Grantaire threaded his fingers through the soft, blonde locks – still in awe that he was allowed to actually to touch Enjolras, let alone share a bed with him. “They had some interesting ways to warn me to be good to you.” He thought that would get a laugh from Enjolras, but instead the warmth against his chest disappeared and instead he had a pair of fiery, blue eyes staring down at him.

“They did what?” Enjolras hissed, glancing at door to the bedroom as though he was ready to march straight down the hall and pull Combeferre and Courfeyrac into the conversation. Grantaire laid a gentle hand on Enjolras’ shoulder and the blonde’s eyes snapped back to him.

“It’s okay, they were just looking out for you.” He spoke gently, hoping to calm Enjolras, and when his words didn’t have the desired effect, he leant up and pressed his lips to Enjolras’. This seemed to work and Enjolras body relaxed again as he kissed back, before he settled back down on Grantaire’s chest. “Besides, Combeferre was the only one who managed to actually scare me.”

“What?” Enjolras was back up again and Grantaire was sure he should be suffering from whiplash by then already. “He had no right to do that to you.” Enjolras wrestled with the bed sheets as he tried to get off the bed, but Grantaire wrapped an arm around his waist to hold him still.

“Yes he did.” Grantaire tells him, and cuts of Enjolras’ coming protests by covering his mouth with his free hand. “He’s your best friend, he’s allowed to be worried for you and protect you. I’m actually a little jealous.” He laughs at his own joke but it falls flat with Enjolras, whose eyes fill with the same pity they first had when a week ago Grantaire had told him he really had no friends to introduce Enjolras to.

“I still think he shouldn’t have done that.” Enjolras said quietly, but he gave up his attempts to go and confront Combeferre then and there and laid back down again on Grantaire’s chest.

“Well, I’m glad he did.” Enjolras looked up at Grantaire at the dark-haired man’s words, though it’s a slow movement rather than the quick, jerky ones from before. “If I ever hurt you deliberately, I want him to make sure I am punished for it, as any mortal would be if they hurt a god.”

Enjolras rolled his eyes at his words, though there’s a softness there that makes the butterflies in Grantaire’s stomach flap widely. And when he reached up to reverently stroke the blonde’s pale cheek, Enjolras nuzzled into his hand. Grantaire didn’t know much about Enjolras’ apparent bad romantic history, but he hopes that maybe he could mark an upturn, because the blonde definitely deserved it.

**Author's Note:**

> Leda and the Swan by Yeats is a really fantastic poem and I do recommend you read it all.


End file.
